Black Spire III: A Twisted King

Arradin's downtime in Zilahani

22

AUG/16

Once he got back to the safety of civilization (or what passes for it in these parts) Arradin picked up his magic studies right where he left off one year ago when he left his teacher Baranor. Now that his magical powers had finally been unleashed he quickly mastered a whole range of spells that he had been studying for the past few decades, but never really figured out. It was like solving a mathematical problem after having struggled to figure out the correct formula, once it’s there everything falls into place and it all just makes sense. In a matter of weeks he grasped magical powers that would normally take years of training to master in practice. He often sought out the company of Min’Ahlia to discuss the minute details of crafting a Shield spell to the theory behind Transmutation magic and the limitations of his abilities, learning much in the process. (one week)

When he wasn’t busy searching for and learning more about spells and magic in general, he researched the mysterious Black Dragon. It was time consuming work, not because he was a slow reader or the texts where hard to understand – the books always had an owner and the owner almost invariably asked for a “small favor” in return. Occasionally he was able to simply pay for the benefit of borrowing a book, but most often he had to run an errand of some sort. He also tried to find out more about the Hag Fens – wildlife, dangerous beasts, locations etc. (2 weeks)

Finally he decided to take pity on the barricades. At first he offered his help where it was most sorely needed – in the mess hall. A soldier’s fare is rarely more than plain filling and often very one sided. With a little creativity and some easy to find local ingredients Arradin was able to brighten up the everyday toll of the soldiers working the ramparts. (one week) After a while he turned his attention to the structural integrity of the walls themselves – without them Zilahani would certainly be doomed. With unusual determination and outspokenness he took charge over the carpenters and masons working at repairing the barricades and used his engineering skills to design some fortifications, strengthening the walls. He also drew up plans and had the carpenters build a simple yet effective ballista and left the locals with instructions on how to produce more of them. (two weeks)